ANC MPs Reject DA Pension Reform Proposal, Treasury To Publish Paper Next Week

LOCAL NEWS

• ANC MPs reject DA’s pension reform bill that would have allowed the financially distressed to access a portion (~30%) of their pension as a loan against a guarantee of a portion of the pension’s assets. The Treasury is expected to release a paper on pension reform next week for public comment
• SA registers 8,561 new cases of Covid-19 & 28 deaths overnight with the case numbers almost doubling overnight due to the spread of the more transmissible Omicron variant which made up 74% of cases in SA in November
• Energy Min Mantashe says if e-tolls are scrapped then fuel prices will likely rise even further as fuel levies will need to be increased to cover the costs. Mantashe government could do nothing to fight rising prices beyond changing the formula – something which is not on the cards
• Energy regulator Nersa admits that, despite wanting courts to order Eskom to adopt a new methodology to calculate its tariff increases, it does not have one in place.
  • Nersa wants Eskom to consider its unbundling and different types of power supply in determining future pricing. It currently uses a method where it ‘claws back’ lost revenue.
  • However, Eskom argued that there is not enough time to adopt a new methodology before tariff hikes take effect in 2022, saying it needs nine months to do the recalculations on top of the six months Nersa needs to do proper consultations. Eskom is seeking to hike electricity tariffs by 20% in 2022

Data:

• 1100GMT: Oct Electricity consumption Y/Y, 0.1% prior
• 1100GMT: Oct Electricity Production Y/Y, 0.0% prior